


Stake the Night

by MicroFox25



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Blood Drinking, Cole is Still Alive, Erotic blood drinking, His name is niles, I wrote this for a friend, M/M, OOC Gavin Reed, Slow Burn, Vampire AU, Will add tags as I think of them, but like medium slow, connor and 900 are twins, i don't think delta rae meant for this song to be used like this, i made him less mean, misuse of a song, obvious canon divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:15:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23196142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MicroFox25/pseuds/MicroFox25
Summary: Hank is a police officer in a world filled with vampires that want nothing to do but to destroy humans. Right? That's what he thought too until he found one, unarmed and afraid. Instead of attacking, the creature decided to run away. With his thoughts askew and beliefs tainted, he has to go on living.
Relationships: Connor/Gavin Reed, Markus/Simon (Detroit: Become Human)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	1. Hank

**Author's Note:**

> So much for the Potter story, amr? Anyway, heres a story I have been working on for like a year now.

The night sky was empty, no moon to light the way as they walked. It wasn't common that pedestrians could walk alone at night, not in the constant light of UV lamps set up in place of street lamps. The new moon was the only night a month that it was possible without attack. 

No one knew where the vampire problem came from. Just that all over the country, the nights are rarely safe. It had been twenty years since it started. They attack anyone unfortunate enough to be caught outside at night. It's gotten to be such a problem that the police dedicated a special section of the force to tackle the vampire problem. The Vampire Task Force, for all its ill creative naming, was the only thing that kept the peace as much as possible and even they- with their protective gear as it was- couldn't do much during the night. The only day that no vampires were ever out during the night time was during the full moon and no one knew why. It's not as if they could just ask a vampire.

Hank Anderson, who had been on the force for longer than the vampires were a thing, was doing his rounds. He was blessed to have been given the new moon for his patrol. If not, he'd have to stick to the street lights, which the city of Detroit had put in efforts to make UV. Other, smaller cities weren't so lucky, only selling lights for the people's doorway to keep them from being invaded. 

He walked along the side of the road when he heard a scuffle in a nearby alley. He thought it was nothing more than a wild animal in a fight over food. Happens all the time. He was planning on ignoring it, but a person ran out of the alley, nearly falling as he scrambled to get away from them. Ignoring Hank completely, the kid ran in the opposite direction. Three other people tore out, falling over themselves.

The biggest one shoved one of the smaller ones. 

“Don't let it get away!” And the two smaller ran, chasing. 

The bigger man climbed to his feet much slower and ran as well. Hank, finally kicked into gear, chased after them as well. He was nowhere near fit for this, having spent his last few years slacking off and was out of breath rather quickly. It wasn't long until he watched the big one turn to an alley, it ended in a dead-end, a large fence blocking the other side.   
They were surrounding the poor kid, him kneeling on the ground holding his hands above his head while the two small ones kicked him. 

“Hey!” 

They all looked up, noticed his clothes, and scattered, going in too many directions for Hank to catch. 

He pulled out his flashlight and looked at the poor kid. His hair was mussed and dirty, a mouse colour, his clothes were covered in dirt and his collar had dried blood down the side of his white shirt that looked too big for him to wear it. His hands were still covering his head as he visibly trembled. 

“Hey, kid. Are you okay?” 

When he looked up beyond his hands, Hank felt his blood run cold. One of his eyes was a deep chestnut brown, while the other was crimson red, black instead of white around it. He was still bleeding from his neck and the veins around it were a dark purple and seemed to pulse. 

He took advantage of Hank's still state and stood, climbing the fence. Hank shook himself. 

“Hey, wait!”

He ran to reach the fence but the boy made it over to the other side. 

He didn't look back before running, tripping over a bag of garbage. It was only then that Hank realized he didn't have shoes on.

The rest of his patrol is smooth as can be with no signs of the people or that kid, who looked no more than twenty. He was stuck in Hank's mind until he walked in his front door. He had been so distracted that he was bowled over easily by the giant dog who stood over him on the ground, licking his face.   
He put his hands up to fend himself from the attacking g tongue. 

“Sumo!” A tiny voice called. 

He looked around the dog to see the kid in full. Cole had grown like a weed, rising to be almost as tall as Hank himself.  
“So sorry,” a woman's voice called from inside. “I couldn't keep hold of him.”

“It means that Sumo loves him, Kelly.” The young blond smiled as ran fingers through her hair. 

Kelly was Cole's babysitter for when Hank had to work later than Cole was in school for, which was often. He'd hired her because Cole liked her and he didn't have time for better options. She was an okay babysitter for what he knew. 

“So I'll be going. See you tomorrow Cole.” She pulled on shoes as Hank stood, holding Sumo's collar. 

“Goodbye, Mr Anderson.” If her face was pink as she said it, Hank wasn't telling. 

He ushered the remaining inside.

“Dad! Today at school, we had an assembly.” Taking off his jacket and hooking it on the coat rack, he walked in, sitting on the couch.   
“Yeah? What about?

“We have one every year at this time. You know. Stranger danger, watch out for drugs, vampire safety.” He put his fingers next to his mouth to imitate fangs. “Watch out for red eyes and fangs. It could be the last thing you see.” Hank felt his chest tighten. “ We got to act on stage. It was fun. I was a victim. Lacy Brown was a vampire. She wasn't supposed to bite me hard, but she did.” Cole sat next to him on the couch. He went on rattling about the assembly and the candy and stickers his class got for being good, but Hank wasn't paying too much attention. He kept thinking about the kid that he saw before. 

He made Cole a dinner of hotdogs and mac and cheese, not the healthiest dish, but it was easy and sat on the couch while Cole watched cartoons. At 9:30, Hank stood, helping Cole get ready for bed. “Did you do your homework?”

“Kelly had me do it as soon as I got home. I had math and science. Social studies and reading were taken over by the assembly so I didn't have any homework.”

“Okay. Get some sleep, bud.” He made it nearly to the door when he heard a peep of noise. He looked back and saw Cole sitting up and holding his stuffed dog. “What's wrong?”  
“Vampires can't get in here, right?” Hank sighed, walking over. He groaned as he lifted Cole to his feet. Together, they walked to the front door and he knelt. 

“Do you see the moon?” Cole shook his head, brown hair hitting Hank's face lightly. “when the moon is gone, no vampires come out, okay?”

“But what about when the moon is there?” Hank reached up and turned on the porch light. 

“See this light?” Cole nodded. “It's called Ultra Violet, or UV light. It's made out of the same stuff that comes from the sun.” He put his hand out, letting the light touch his hand. “I can touch it and you can touch it. Try.” Cole did just that, pushing his hand out. “You know why vampires don't come out at night?”

“They're scared of the light?”

“Cause the sunlight hurts them. You can touch the light just like me, but vampires can't touch the light. It'll hurt them. When the moon isn't out, we turn this on and vampires can't come to the door. All our windows are made stronger so they can't be broken. We don't have a back door.”

“So no vampires?” 

“No vampires.” Cole hugged Hank as tight as his arms could squeeze. “Now off to bed with you. You have school in the morning.”

Hank sat at his table long into the night. He looked at the drawing on the table. Cole drew it while Kelly was there. It was Cole, Hank, Kelly, and Sumo. Hank was lucky that he even had Cole to draw pictures. Four years prior, he had gotten in a wreck. Cole almost didn't make it out of the hospital, but a doctor went in, having everyone leave the room. After that, he started to get better. Hank wondered to this day what that doctor did, but he wouldn't trade the fact that he had Cole for anything. 

They weren't warning children of vampires until about five years ago, trusting parents to know and keep their kids safe. Then, a child was taken on a night that they were supposed to put on the lights. Hank sighed, flipping on the light just in case. The whole thing with that kid…

There were only three indicators of a vampire that Hank knew. Fangs, red eyes, and an aversion to sunlight. Hank hadn't taken his UV flashlight thinking he wouldn't need it, but he could bet that the kid would have been burned by it if he did. 

Question was, why was he running from those other guys instead of attacking them? Why was he out during the new moon anyways? He had Hank deep in an alley. No one would have been able to save Hank if he chose to attack. They were stronger and faster. Why did the vampire choose to run instead? With questions filling Hank's head, he walked off to bed, not getting much sleep. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This whole stay-at-home thing has my times completely messed up, lol. Here's a super late addition to this story.

riverbank set Cole off to school. It was a Friday so he'd have a long weekend, hopefully not at work. He walked through the door and sat down, only to be called to get up moments later by Fowler. He stood in the office next to Reed, who looked bored. 

“Another homicide.” Fowler, the chief, mentioned. He tossed the file, which Gavin caught. He opened it and Hank looked over, feeling the barest bit of nausea. It didn't bother him so much anymore but some cases still got to him this many years later. 

“Third one this week,” Gavin mentioned. “Necks are torn out, limbs torn off, nearly no blood.” He looked up with recognition. “This is a bloodsucker case. Why not have the vampire boys deal with it? It's their speciality.” 

Fowler looked up. “Because they say it's a human doing it.” Gavin scoffed. 

“This is a vampire, boss. All the makings of it. All the same stuff.”

“It's what they say. They don't do anything that isn't a vampire.” Gavin sighed and closed the folder. He grumbled until they made it to the car, plopping himself in the passenger. He looked around Hank's car with a judgemental eye. 

“Damn, Anderson. You know the meaning of tidy?” Hank rolled his eyes, throwing the car into reverse to get out of the parking lot. 

“You try having a kid and come back to me.” Hank knew it wasn't so negative. It was just how Gavin Reed made conversation. He was just naturally rude. Once, Gavin was a rookie and Hank took him under his wing. He was an asshole then, too. 

Hank pulled into the road. “Why do they think this was a human doing?” He asked, looking at the folder again. “I know there are some psychos out there, but this is the vampire's mark.” Hank shrugged as he turned down a street. 

“They're experts. They know a vampire or not.” Gavin sighed, pointing down another road. 

“Maybe they're just lazy and want to dump their shit on others. I'm still going with vampires.” Hank rolled his eyes again, pulling up to the scene. It was a junkyard where the body was found by kids who were out too early in the morning. Police tape cut off the scene, Hank and Gavin moving it to get closer. They walked closer. It was worse in person. Hank didn't want to see the dead, blank look on the guy's face. His skin was grey and milky. Hank looked at the torso. The cuts were clean and straight like he was cut with a knife rather than torn off with force as he'd expect. He brought it up to Gavin, who ran his hand through his hair. They gathered as much information as they could. 

Gavin sat heavily to the passenger seat, throwing his head back. Hank hadn't even put the key in the ignition. “Why would someone try to frame a vampire?” Hank asked, more to himself than Gavin. 

“Cover? Maybe they thought they'd get away with it if it was a vampire?”

Hank shook his head. “Everyone knows about the raids. No one would expect to get away with it.”

“What are you thinking?” Hank looked over at Gavin, who had his foot on the dashboard. He reached over and knocked the foot off. 

“What if they were just trying to get people to hate vampires more?” 

Gavin snorted. “can't hate something more than humans hate vampires. They're monsters with no conscience. Everyone and their crinkly grandmother know that.” Hank… wasn't so sure. At least, a few nights ago, he wasn't. The kid had slipped his mind for a while, other cases and more problems far more important than a random vampire who ran away. “Anderson.” A hand waved in front of his face and he jerked away. “You blanked out there for a sec.”

“Yeah. Just thinking.”

“Whatever, let's just file this stuff and get back.”

“Yeah.” He put the keys in the ignition, turning them and listening to the vehicle roar to life. Gavin waited until Hank was on the road before he put his foot back on the dashboard. “I kind of hope I crash, just so your knee will go through your face.”

Slowly, Gavin moved his leg down so that his foot was on the floor. Hank tried not to smile with satisfaction too widely. They work and Gavin got out, dragging the file and the tablet they were recording evidence on with him. Hank stood, locking his doors before following. By the time he was inside, Gavin was already in his chair, having pulled it to Hank's desk. He rolled his eyes. 

Together they worked faster to get everything recorded and in the system. He was, by odd chance, done by 3:30. He walked to Fowler's office. “We got the case in. My babysitter can't make it today.”

“Be here tomorrow. Early.” He nodded, logging out of his computer, before bolting out the door. It might have been a lie, but who was gonna call him on it. On the way, he called Kelly off and pulled into the parking lot that Cole was dropped off. He made it there with five minutes until four when Cole's bus came. He waited, watching until the bus was seen until he stepped out of the car. The bus rolled to a stop and the door opened. Cole tumbled out with three more kids who were in older grades so they could walk on their own. Cole spotted him and ran, dropping his bag on the way. He jumped into Hank's arms, who caught him with little problems. 

“Dad! What about Kelly?”

“I called her off today. Just you and me.” Cole threw his arms into the air and howled mu like Sumo. 

“Are we gonna get food?”

“Don't we always? Get in.” He opened the passenger side door, made sure he buckled himself in, and walked around to his side, sitting. He'd never turned the car off, just throwing it into gear. 

“Chicken feed!” Cole yelled with happiness.

“Again?” Hank asked, looking at his son. He was jumping in his seat. 

“Always!” Hank laughed at his son, turning the radio up. Cole sang along to the music as he looked out the window, hand making waves in the wind as they moved. They pulled into the secluded spot in downtown Detroit, Hank throwing the car into park. Cole was out as soon as the car stopped, running the few feet to the front of the little shack that was Cole's version if a five-star restaurant. He rose to his tiptoes to see Gary, who was already working on another order. 

“Hey!” He called happily. “Little Anderson. The usual?” Cole smiled brightly, showing off his missing tooth. It was closer to the side so it wasn't so obvious, but from Hank's point of view, he could see the gap. 

“Yes!” He made the meal quickly, used to making by this time. 

“Chicken strips covered in cheddar cheese and a medium mango soda, no ice. And for you, Hank?”

“Uh, just the usual burger. Same drink.” He nodded and started getting to work. 

“You know, I heard they did another raid two nights ago.” Hank made a hissing noise at the man but it was too late. Cole looked up.

“What's a raid?”

“They go to where the vampires are and take them away so that they don't hurt others.”

“Where do they take them?” Hank cursed himself. 

“To an island.” Cole nodded, going back to his chicken. Hank gave Gary a scathing look when he took his food. At least the cook had the decency to look ashamed. Hank paid for their food and walked Cole to the tables next to the small shop. “So how was school?”

Cole shrugged. “Lacy said sorry for biting me. I told her she made a good vampire. I was being nice, you know? And she got all red and weird around me.”

“Do you think Lacy may like you?” 

“Of course. We're in the same group.” Hank raised his brows at his son, who finally got the hint. “Ew, dad! No way. She'd rather hold hands with Ella than even talk to me.” Hank felt his face twisted. “I don't get it. Everybody likes Ella. She's nice and tall and pretty, but I don't like her like that.”

“Do you like anybody like that?” Cole shook his head earnestly. “what do you like?”

“Sumo. And the Chicken Feed chicken strips. And Mac and cheese. And I like when You tuck me in, but I'm supposed to like that. You're my dad.” Hank laughed out loud. “Eat, dad. It'll get cold.”

“Yes, your highness.” He faked a bow with his head before biting into the burger. It was salty, filled with fat, and the cheese melted into his mouth but he loved it. They didn't do this as often as he wanted to. 

Someone sat next to him and Hank looked over, looking exasperated. “I'm having a pleasant lunch with my son, Pedro.” He told the man, who smiled kindly at Cole. 

“I know, I know. Don't bother you when you're with your kid. But this one's big. The…” he looked at Cole, who was listening with rapt attention, his eyes glued on the other man. Hank sighed and stood. 

“Stay here and eat. I'll be right over there.” Cole pouted slightly but didn't protest, stuffing the remaining of the chicken strip into his mouth. 

He walked with Pedro a distance away so he knew Cole wouldn't hear. “Okay, listen. After every raid, the bloodies will scramble, right? They find other, safer places to hide out until they can go out and attack again.” 

“Get to the point.”

“I have a friend who found on in his warehouse. There's this like hole in the centre and one of them fell in it trying to escape. It's still there. I, as a good citizen, wanted to call the police, but these guys are like, messing with it. It's too low in the hole to get out.” Hank pressed two fingers hard to his temple. 

“What about it? Just turn it in.”

“Don't you wanna see one up close?” Hank sighed. Guess he'd be contacting Kelly after all. 


	3. Chapter 3

The warehouse was musty and as soon as the door opened, he could smell the blood. It was old and nasty, but unmistakable. It was dark enough that he was handed a flashlight and big enough that he couldn't see where this hole was. It took a moment of walking behind Pedro before they made it. He expected it to be crudely dug, uneven. It looked like it was meant to be there, deeper than even Hank could have reached and made of concrete. 

Three people were surrounding it, one of them poking a stick-like thing in. The smell was heaviest here, Hank almost covering his nose. Hank walked next to a man who was poking the vampire. When he shined the light down, he saw the hole in greater detail. The sides were covered in blood that had dried, handprints sliding up the walls. He couldn't tell what was old or new at the bottom. 

In the far corner, curled in a ball was the vampire. It was blocking his head from view, protecting itself. Another of the men lit a firecracker and tossed it down, the vampire hissing when it went off, throwing itself as far away from it as the walls would let it. It's once white shirt was now covered in blood, it's pants caked in it to the point that there was more blood than jeans. Hank knew this because it was the same vampire he'd let escape those few nights ago. He looked up, not seeing Hank because of the light in his face. 

Both of his eyes were black with red irises and he looked like he was crying, but it was tinged red. He squeezed himself as close to the corner as possible, trying to hide. Every different movement of the people made him look in that direction. He had bitten his lip apparently, fangs digging into flesh and leaking blood. He was shaking in that corner, arms around himself to protect his vitals. 

He was… afraid. The vampire was afraid. Hank felt sick. His stomach twisted and heaved, he had to run to the closest garbage can to empty his guts of the meat and grease that he'd previously eaten. 

“That sickening, huh?” Pedro laughed. Hank felt his teeth gritting. Couldn't they see how bad it was? It was like torturing a small animal. 

No. Hank had to rationalize. These things, they attacked people at random. They were cruel and ruthless. Merciless. He wiped his mouth as he stood, clearing his throat. Pedro's phone buzzed and he pulled it out, looking at it. “Ooh, gotta go. catch you later.” He nodded, watching the man as he walked out of the building. Hank walked back over to the hole. The guy that was poking him, poked him in the face, so the vampire lashed out, grabbing the pole and jerking him down with a scream. 

He grabbed the man as quickly as he could, holding him hostage. It was obvious he didn't know what he was doing, looking up at the others with a wild look in his eye. He hadn't thought this far into the plan. He pressed a clawed hand to the man's throat. 

“Let me out of here,” he said, his voice high and desperate. “or I'll kill him. You know I will.” he had a slight tremor in his voice that if Hank wasn't trained for it, he wouldn't have heard it. He was bluffing. They didn't believe so, dropping what was the equivalent of a crude rope ladder into the pit. “Back away. Anybody does anything and you'll be… juggling heads.” The vampire climbed first, letting the man climb after. 

The vampire tried to grab for him, but someone had grabbed what Hank was sure was a taser and tried to swipe at the vampire. He swiped, going on full instinct, his claws still out. When he was done, the man's hand flopped to the ground with a grotesque flop and he called out. The other two attacked him so he had to defend himself. When he was surrounded by bodies, the vampire crouched down and started crying, holding his hands in his hair, spreading fresh blood to the dark brown locks. He noticed Hank standing there and leapt, tackling Hank to the ground. When he noticed Hank was no threat to him, the vampire tried to run out the door, getting stopped by the sun. Hank could smell the burning flesh and ash and could hear the scream. Looking, the vampire was halfway in the sunlight, not able to move. 

Hank stood and walked over, pulling the vampire to the shade before taking off his jacket, putting out the fire that started on his body. The vampire was left to do nothing but whimper at the pain. Hank tried to think. What did vampires need to heal? Blood right?

He asked himself why he cared so much about a monster, but put those feelings aside. He was just… repaying the vampire? For letting him live? Yeah, that sounded weak to himself as well. Never mind that he picked up the vampire and carried him to the bodies. One of them was still alive, barely able to move. It was just putting him out of his memory, Hank told himself. 

He placed the vampire next to the body, which he attacked with vigour, latching on to the next of the broken man, who let out a small noise, but otherwise didn't react. 

Hank watched with amazement as the burned flesh started to melt away to reveal clean, healed skin. He thought he heard a sob from the thing, but ignored it. His clothes were still burnt when he dropped the body but otherwise looked unharmed. 

He looked up at Hank, his eyes frightening in their oddity. Was it hunger that made them like that or were they always red and black? The vampire stood and walked over. With a quick movement, the vampire snatched his gun out of the holster, pointing it at Hank. “I… I can't go anywhere. I am gonna wait until the sun falls and you're gonna drive me where I need to go. Then you can get your gun back.” Hank put his hands up as the vampire came closer again. Hank didn't tell him that the safety was on or that he wasn't allowed to carry more than six rounds at a time. The vampire grabbed his badge and wallet. 

“Hey!” He pointed the gun at Hank's face. 

“Police? Why-” he shook his head, looking at Hank's wallet. “Hank Anderson.” 

“Yep.” 

“115 Michigan Drive.” Hank cursed under his breath. “so I know where you live. I also know you have a son. You rat out where we live, I know how to get past the UV lights.” And the vampire wasn't even bluffing. Hank nodded. The blackmail wasn't necessary, but he understood it. He had to secure his hovel. 

The sun fell too quickly, so Hank walked to the car, gun in his back. The vampire told him where to go until they pulled into the parking lot right next to a broken-down church. “I thought vampires couldn't step on hallowed grounds.” He rolled his eyes. Hank noticed that now, in the dark, they were the Chestnut brown that one was when he met him the first time.

“We're diseased, not demons.” Hank felt his brows raise in surprise. Disease? 

A person- a vampire- looking very much like the one in his car walked out cautiously. “Connor?” He asked into the headlights, blocking the light with his hand as best he could. Hank shut off the lights.

The vampire, apparently named Connor in his car threw the door open, running. He hugged the other close. “Niles,” he sobbed. The other had a few inches on the one he met as they put their foreheads together, Connor choking out half-formed words. 

“Connor slow down. What happened?”

“You were right. It was a trap and they tried to kill me and I fell in a hole and...” Connor trailed off before he broke down, falling to his knees had Niles not caught him. Niles picked him up and carried him into the church.

Hank stood and walked to the other side of the car, closing the door. Someone pressed him against the car. Hank felt their hands take him, holding them behind his back. “You're not getting away so easy, Human.” The female voice told him, hissing in his ear. The way she said human dripped with disdain and venom. She led him through the same door another reaching into his car to get his gun.

He was lead to the back of the church and put in a rickety chair. The person put the gun in her hand and she pointed it directly at Hank's heart. 

“What happened to Connor?” She asked. She had hair that reached the centre of her back which was red blonde. Hank noticed, much like Connor had the first night, one of her eyes was black and red while the other was a soft brown colour. 

“I only got there at the last part. He was covered in blood.” Lying, in this case, would get him nowhere. She believed him enough, grunting. 

“Did he drink from anyone as much as you know?”

“He had to. He ran into the sunlight. He was burnt.”

She bared her teeth, picking up a piece of wood, throwing it as hard as she could. The one that gave her the gun walked up. 

“If it makes any difference, he was crying while he did it.” Hank offered.

“You, shut up.” She turned to the man. “Josh?” looking closely at the man, he had the same eye colour situation going on. He wondered faintly what that was all about but didn't have the time or wherewithal to ask while a gun was pointed at his most vital organ.

“He's in a bad way. The humans did more to him than he's saying. One feeding on a human didn't erase all the marks on his body, only the burns from the sun. He had other, deeper burns. His throat is cut. If he didn't have the affliction…” he shook his head, “I didn't figure two days would lead to this much damage.”

“Sadistic monsters.”

“Oh, we're the monsters? You're the ones who attack people at random.” She reached over and hit him in the face with the butt of his gun.

“We'll have Niles watch him. He can't be here if he's drinking from humans again.” Josh opened his mouth. 

“I know he had no choice but rules are rules. They promised they wouldn't drink from humans. It took months to get them fully off of it. We can't have them going back.” she ran a hand threw her hair as she placed.   
“Why the hell was he out there?” so it wasn't because of the raid that he was caught. 

“I have a home to go to, can I get there?” She looked like she'd want nothing more than to kill him. “the other vampire, Connor? He has my address. He knows where I live so I'd be stupid of me to tell anyone.” The woman cursed. “I have a son. My babysitter is probably going out of her mind with worry because I was supposed to be home hours ago.” She turned off the safety and pressed the gun to his forehead. 

“I don't trust you. You're human so I know you're going to call that stupid police.”

“I am the police.” She gritted her teeth.

“Go ahead and make your stupid report. We'll be gone by the time everyone gets here to murder us anyway.”

Josh looked worried. “North, you know that we can't make that decision without-”

“I know, Josh, but we have no choice. This bastard knows where we are. It's not safe here anymore. Start getting people packing. I'll deal with them.” Josh hesitated, but nodded, walking away. North pulled him up by his shirt with more strength in her arm than Hank had in his whole body. She walked him to the car and threw the gun in. With her watching the entire time, Hank drove away. 


	4. Chapter 4

Hank stopped by the church early the next morning after a fitful sleep. True to her word, the church was empty, having nearly no signs of life. The only thing that was out of place was a symbol etched on the wall. It was a funky little square that looked like the lines extended too far and was flattened out. 

Hank sighed and walked out, heading to work. He had a lot of paperwork to fill out. 

He started with the warehouse.  _ He was given a tip about the location of a vampire. He wanted to check it out before contacting anyone. When he got there, everyone- _ no, that wouldn't account for Pedro knowing the location. He didn't talk to most cops, but he wouldn't protect some vampire either.  _ He arrived there and the vampire was there, in a hole. He didn't think it was a danger being in the hole and told one of the people to call the Vampire Squad. He then walked away because he wanted to go home, hoping that the people did what they were told _ . Good enough. Not too much information, but not too little. The squad car that arrived would see the dead bodies and hopefully put two and two together. No church mention needed. 

With a sigh and a slight tinge of guilt, Hank turned it in. He saw the officers who were assigned to look at the warehouse and relaxed. Gavin was lazy with this work and Tina was always tired of dragging him around. It would be over quick. True to his head, they were back within two hours, Gavin sitting down in his seat while Tina filed the report. 

“Three bodies. No vampire.” 

“Must have escaped,” Hank mentioned, trying not to think about the sweat forming. 

“Yeah. Too bad, too. I wanna see one up close.” She sat at his desk in the chair next to it. “So do they really have black eyes? I've never seen one before. Do they really have super sharp fangs? And clear skin?”

“You've been reading too many novels,” Gavin said from his desk.

“Yes, they have black and red eyes. I didn't get a good look at it, but it didn't seem to have clear skin.” She deflated slightly. He didn't feel so guilty lying to her. Connor didn't have clear skin, for sure. Neither did North or Josh, for that matter. 

Hank sighed and got back to- what was he doing? He had been looking at his home screen. He'd been thinking about the church. Connor called it a disease. Josh was the one who called it an affliction. Did that mean… Hank felt his heartbeat heavy in his chest. Did that mean the vampires… Did it mean they were just sick?  _ Were they basically just ritualistically murdering people with cancer? Or people with diabetes? _

No, because they were killing humans, too. There was a reason that the murders recently have looked like vampire attacks. But, North said they- at least their group- didn't feed off humans. That didn't account for every other vampire in Detroit, let alone the whole country. 

A hand waved in front of him and he jerked back, seeing Gavin leaning over his desk. “the fuck do you want?”

“You've been staring at the same screen for the past five minutes. Chris thought you went into a trance or something.” Hank smacked Gavin's hand from his face, grumbling before he stood.

“I need coffee.” He walked to the breakroom, pouring a bit of the liquid sludge into his cup. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Gavin asked his back. “Did seeing the thing affect you that much?”

“No, it's just…” Hank trailed off, biting his lip. 

“There was something else,” Gavin pointed out like he knew all the answers. “There was something you didn't put in the report, wasn't there?” Hank shoved off of the counter and away from Gavin Reed, who was looking like he won the lottery. 

The ride home later that day was relatively calm. He didn't see anyone walking about, not that he expected to either the moon out and all. He turned onto the next road and slammed the brakes just in time not to hit someone who had run out in the road. It was a woman, who looked like she'd clawed her way out of a dumpster. Her hair was covering one side of her face and she rushed to climb into his car without even asking. 

“I'm so sorry about this. These- these lunatics were chasing me. Hunters, I think. They thought I was a vampire or something because they were trying to kill me.”

“It's okay. You're safe now. Do you need to go somewhere?” She buried her head in her hands and Hank heard her breath hitch. 

“Anywhere but here, please.” Hank drove away and she relaxed in the corner of his eye. 

“So where can I take you, miss?”

“I… uh… there's this, um… there's this church on the other side of town.”  _ Oh, _ Hank thought.  _ So that's how it is. _

“Just lead the way.” He started to drive in the opposite direction that his home was. “Do you mind if I call my son's babysitter? Gotta let her know I'll be a bit late.” 

She sighed out a shaky breath, waving him off. “No, go ahead. Family is important.” He nodded, pulling out his phone. Without looking, he dialled his house phone.

_ “Hello?” _ Her voice rang out. He could hear Cole laughing in the background. 

“Hey, Kelly? I picked up a lady who needed a lift home, so I'm gonna be a minute. Didn't want her walking around in the dark tonight.”

“ _ Yeah, makes sense. Well, I don't have any plans so I don't mind staying here for a bit longer. Be safe, okay?” _

“Will do. Thank you.” He hung up and put the phone in his jacket pocket. “So this church,” she tensed. “You know someone who owns it?”

“N-no. I just… I was squatting there for a few days. I lost my apartment a few months back and have been all over the place.”

“How are you safe? With all the actual vampires around?”

She gave a hollow laugh. “can't step on hallowed grounds, you know? I haven't had a problem yet.”

“Good. I'd hate to drop you somewhere dangerous.” She pointed him in the same direction Connor had before and he pulled into the church parking lot. 

“Thank you. Is there any way I can repay you?”

“Just stay safe and stay inside at night.” She nodded and climbed out, walking to the door. Hank didn't want to wait around while she discovered that the rest of them were gone, so he pulled out and left. 

At home, he walked through the door to see Kelly and Cole at the table and Cole was colouring. “Dad! You're here! Look! Kelly helped me colour this.” He almost didn't look at it but smiled anyway. 

“That's great, Cole.” He looked at Kelly. “Will you need a ride home?”

“No thank you, Mr Anderson. My roommate is coming to get me.” He nodded and paid her for the week and cleaned up after Cole so she got ready to leave. A car horn notified her that her ride was here. “Goodbye Cole!” She called through the house. “See you Monday!”

“Okay! Bye Kelly!” And she walked out the door. He had Sundays off so he knew Cole would want to wake up early to go to the park. Hank had promised after all when he called Kelly the day he found Connor. 

The next day, he walked out to check the temperature- if it was just warm enough for him, it would be too cold for Cole- when he was intercepted by his nosy neighbour. She lived across the street from him and had her nose in everyone else's business all the time. She walked to him with her nose in the air like she smelled something awful. 

“Mr Anderson.” She snapped at him.

“Yes, Miss Penngrove?” He said, exhausted with her already. 

“I couldn't help but notice that your lights weren't on last night.” 

“My… my lights?”

“Your protective lights, Hank. You didn't turn them on.”

“What of it?” She scoffed like he had slapped her with a rotting fish. 

“Do you not care about your son's safety? If you did, I'm sure you'd always have them on as soon as night falls.”

“Are you honestly suggesting that as a police officer I don't care about my own damn son because I was running behind last night and forgot to turn on my porch light?” She puffed up, her face twisting into a grimace. 

“With that attitude, I have a mind to march right down to the police station. I could have your badge. Subordination!” He nodded mindlessly and turned on his heels, walking inside and closing the door before she could follow like she was wont to do. He wouldn't let some crabby old lady with a stick up her ass ruin his only free day with his son.


End file.
